Old Dominion Claims 2nd Annual Battle Of The Banks, Noah Snyder
Locks Down Best Barrel And Highest Individual Total By Nick McGregor
TURF: 2nd Annual Wave Riding Vehicles Battle Of The Banks; North of S-Turns, Pea Island, NC;
November 25th, 2009
ENERGY: Not quite six to eight-foot freight-train death tubes
like last year, but still fully rippable: chest to occasional overhead swell,
light offshore winds, and plenty of peaky A-frames thanks to Nor’Ida’s recent
renovation of several Outer Banks sandbars. “It was the best sand we’ve seen
all year,” according to Team Outer Banks finalist Jeff Myers. “For that size,
most heats looked more like France than North Carolina.”
FIRST TIME
AT FIGHT CLUB: As a core-to-the-bone
grassroots affair pitting the best Outer Banks surfers against their top
Virginia Beach counterparts, not too many fresh faces emerged in the second
edition of the Battle Of The Banks. Young Turks like Brett Barley and Philip
Goold made it back East for this year’s slugfest, but unfortunately the biggest
story came from who didn’t show up for
both squads: Jesse Hines, Craig Watson, and Billy Hume for the Outer Banks, as well as Jason Borte, Michael Dunphy, and Jay Trinder for Virginia Beach.
SLIDE: Even though Team Outer Banks brought the Best Barrel
and individual titles home in 2008’s inaugural Battle Of The Banks, they still
came up 58 points short of Team Virginia Beach’s overall total. And you can bet
the Tarheels didn’t want that to happen again in 2009: “25-minute heats with
your own teammates allowed everyone plenty of opportunities for scores, as well
as very little room for excuses about not being able to post above-average
numbers,” according to Jeff Myers.
Round One saw Team VB dart out to a commanding lead
on the strength of a perfect-10 backside barrel from Brad Harrell and strong
power surfing from Contest Director Ian Parnell. Perennial Pungo flyboy Lucas
Rogers even punted a few unlikely airs as well, but as Myers said, “We were all
warned in advance that three hacks in the pocket or aerials of any sort weren’t
going to post much more than a 5, and that your standard barrel would
definitely outweigh any type of progressive surfing in or above the lip.” Team
OBNC utilized that knowledge to storm back in Round Two, when Kitty Hawk loc’dog
Chris McDonald powered through a long tunnel of his own to nab another perfect
10.
In the 45-minute final, Team OBNC’s last three
representatives left standing (Noah Snyder, Myers, and Drew Meredith) had
plenty of chances to bring home a win. Snyder did his part, sneaking into
a thick righthand barrel to earn the third and final 10 of the day, $1000 from
Hurley for navigating the “Best Barrel” of the event, and another $500 for
winning the final and accumulating the most individual points. Fellow Tarheel
Drew Meredith surfed strong for a 3rd-place finish, but Lucas Rogers’ 2nd-place
showing sealed the deal for Team VB, giving them a slim seven-point margin that
allowed the Old Dominion interlopers to claim their second consecutive Battle
Of The Banks title. “Just as close as you would really want a climactic duel in
the final,” Myers said.
THE PAIN: Clearly Team Outer Banks cringed after again winning
the top two individual honors but falling just short of Team Virginia Beach’s
overall total. Could Hines, Hume, and Watson have made the difference?
You know what they say about coulda, shoulda, woulda… then again, if a second
straight close loss to their longtime adversaries didn’t motivate Team Outer
Banks for next year, I don’t know what will.
THE MAN: Snyder deserves props for winning Best Barrel and the
individual title, but so does Contest Director and Team VB finalist Ian
Parnell, who had to withstand debilitating weather, destructive swell, missed
calls, and an extended waiting period before finally picking the perfect day to
run the Battle Of The Banks (Surfline forecaster Kurt Korte also gets a pat on
the back for helping with that pre-Thanksgiving call). But in the end, Team
OBNC foot soldiers Eric Dotson and Mike Meredith deserve the real prize for
both donating their $100 earnings to Indonesia-bound 20-year-old Chris McDonald,
who had the $1000 Best Barrel award snagged out from under him in the dying
minutes of the final by Snyder. What contest has conjoined more young bucks,
old salts, out-of-town insurgents, and territorial locals in one giant
Budweiser-fueled bromance? “I actually think this contest has brought us all
together,” Snyder told ESM Assignment
Writer/ Surfing Magazine Senior
Editor Matt Walker. “It’s more brotherly than anything.”
YOU DO NOT
TALK ABOUT FIGHT CLUB:
“Let’s win this one for Hines.” –Mass
text message sent out by Team Outer Banks Co-Captain Noah Snyder two days
before the event, urging his Dare County compadres to step up for injured
Co-Captain Jesse Hines
“Get ready.” –Text message from Contest
Director/ Team Virginia Beach finalist Ian Parnell to Noah after Team VB’s win,
urging Snyder to start thinking about 2010
“Those [Virginia Beach] guys surfed great this year.
I’ll be the first to admit that their team has no shortage of talent, and they
proved that again by winning their second title. Those fuckers!” –Team
Outer Banks finalist/ gracious competitor Jeff Myers
FINAL
RESULTS OF THE 2ND ANNUAL WAVE RIDING VEHICLES BATTLE OF THE BANKS
1. Team
Virginia, 1241.1 points
2. Team
Outer Banks, 1233.5 points
INDIVIDUAL
FINAL 1. Noah Snyder (OBNC), $500
2. Lucas Rogers (VB)
3. Drew Meredith (OBNC)
4. Brad Harrell (VB)
5. Ian Parnell (VB)
6. Jeff Myers (OBNC)
Sweetwater Leaves It Up To The Grom At Oakley Surf Shop Challenge Mid-Atlantic Regional Qualifier; “Uncle” Andrew Gesler Drives Heritage Win Home In Northeast
By Matt Pruett and Nick McGregor;
Photos by Matt Lusk
